


F.O.O.L.

by proceduralpassion87



Category: Chicago Med
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, i wrote this months ago but i'm just now adding stuff to ao3, it had a second part but it sucks so i haven't posted it, wlw relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:47:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23958697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/proceduralpassion87/pseuds/proceduralpassion87
Summary: Natalie and Ava have come to a standstill in their relationship.
Relationships: Ava Bekker/Natalie Manning
Kudos: 1





	F.O.O.L.

Falling out of love. It happened gradually. Then suddenly. Things just don’t feel the same. The loving look of admiration that once filled Ava’s eyes had faded. She takes longer to reply to her girlfriend’s text messages and almost always neglects to call her back. The walls that Natalie had worked so hard to demolish had risen up and were utterly impenetrable.

It’s Sunday morning and Natalie takes the biscuits out the oven as the bacon nearby cools off. Owen is washing up, making a mess while singing “Baby Shark.” Ava was working a half shift at Med and wouldn’t be expected back home until sometime after noon. Natalie lets out a cool sigh as she leans against the kitchen counter. This past week had beaten her down and now she had to prepare herself all over again for whatever turmoil would come her way.

She had let herself fall into this self-destructive pattern for far too long and intended on fixing that today. When her girlfriend got home, she would finally confront her about the growing distance that had separated them. Natalie pulled and pulled in the moments she had felt the gap grow, but that only resulted in forceful pushes that led them worse for wear than where they started. It wasn’t working. All the meaningless fights about patient’s course of treatments and dishes left unwashed had deeper nuance below the surface.

Mother and son enjoy breakfast together before the preschooler is off to his room to play with his Legos. Natalie settles on the couch, half watching Lifetime and half figuring out what to say to Ava when she got home. The hours pass and another movie has since started. And then another. Ava was due back home long ago and by now, Natalie is pacing the living room in anxiety with anger creeping underneath.

The sound of the door shutting alerts her to the presence of her girlfriend, who ambles in without a care in the world. She carelessly threw her bag on the table before nearly walking past Natalie. A light grasp pulls Ava back to her and Natalie waits with bewilderment washing over her features.

“Where have you been?!”

“Out.” Ava releases herself from Natalie’s hold and walks to their bedroom, stripping off her scrubs along the way. The brunette follows closely behind and picks up the abandoned clothing and throws them on the bed as Ava dons some sweats.

“Ava, we need to talk.”

“I was going to take a nap.” She had already grabbed the blanket from the end of the bed.

“It’s important.” With a sigh, Ava pauses her actions and stands in wait. Her arms are defensively crossed around her chest and her foot lightly taps on the hard wood floor, indicating her impatience.

“What’s wrong?” Ava frowns and gives a rough shrug to Natalie’s question. She was the one who said “it was important,” but now she’s asking trivial questions.

“Ava! You’ve been acting strange these past few weeks. It’s like we barely talk anymore. You’ve pulled away…” The aching in Natalie’s voice didn’t go undetected, but this was the last thing Ava wanted to talk about. Even a half shift at Med had left her with little energy; tomorrow would be the first day Ava had off in six days.

Without a word, Ava grabs the pillow from her side of the bed and exits to the living room. She just barely has the chance to lay on it before Natalie follows her.

“Just like you’re doing now!” Natalie yells.

“Keep your voice down! Owen’s room is right behind you.” Ava retorts before laying back down on the couch.

“Did I do something? Is someone bothering you? … Is it another woman?” The pause between each question lengthened. The last one struck a nerve with Ava and she twists her head with a scowl.

“What the hell is the matter with you?! You’re so needy that there HAS to be a problem if every single moment isn’t spent paying attention to you?!” By now, Ava has risen from her position on the sofa and her stance was undeniably indignant. “News flash, people are allowed to have bad days! And-”

Natalie cuts her off. “Bad days, yes. Not bad weeks! You think I don’t notice? Something is wrong! Why can’t you tell me?”

“Has it ever occurred to you that I’m not required to tell you every single thing that happens in my life?”

Natalie heaves in a deep breath and closes her eyes. A mixture of feelings overwhelmed her senses and she didn’t know which to confront first. The anger she felt at being yelled at for simply trying to get to the bottom of things? The confusion of where this all started? Or maybe the hurt she felt as being seen as needy and annoying to the love of her life? She didn’t have a chance to before Owen peeked his head out from his bedroom door.

“Mama, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” It was only then that she registered the salty fluid that streaked down her cheeks. She scurries him back to his room while whispering assurances to sooth his alarmed state.

When she turns back around, Ava’s face has since softened and she’s free from the contrite stance she once held herself in.

Natalie steps across the living room and grabs her phone from the coffee table. Ava’s demeanor, much less fierce and combative from just minutes ago, prevents her from communicating. By the time she gathers the fortitude to open her mouth, Natalie is out the door.

Hours pass and now it’s Ava pacing the house, figuring out how to confess to the woman she loves. The words she previously spoke were said out of confusion and feeling boxed in a corner. There was nowhere for her to go to escape the current predicament she found herself in.

Just last month, Natalie and Ava were happy. The happiest either had ever been. They had found love, care, safety, and comfort in one another. When around each other, the duo instantly lit up even if they were feeling the lowest of lows. What was originally an intense liaison had softened into an easier kind of intimacy that neither intended on letting go. The topic of marriage had just started brewing between them a few months ago and a three stone accented round cut ring was marked in a jeweler’s catalog that was annually sent to the house every holiday season.

Now things were different. The plans they once had had been derailed, in Ava’s mind. Her head swings up when she hears the door’s lock falter and Natalie appears with a plastic bag in her hand. Owen rushes out his room and races to Natalie.

“Mama, you’re home! Where’d you go?” He leaps up into her arms with a trust only children reserve for their parents.

“I got you… your favorite sandwich for dinner!” At first, she slowly snakes it out the bag before flinging it in the air. Owen catches the sub and yells in excitement as he runs to the table. Natalie falters for a moment, giving a soft glance toward Ava before following her son into the kitchen.

He’s practically the only one who speaks throughout dinner as the trio sit at the breakfast table in the nook of the kitchen. Ava and Natalie give out their small commentary to the most recent episode of “Puppy Dog Pals” and the inner workings of his Lego Jurassic World mini figure sets while narrowly missing the other make eye contact. The tension goes unfound for the tyke and he excuses himself first after scarfing down his dinner.

Natalie grabs his wrapper and hers and begins cleaning up. Ava is on her last few bites and makes them last as she contemplates how to concede next. In her mind, it shouldn’t have been so hard. Still, the words get caught up and stuck in her throat. Her mouth opens several times as she struggles to find the gall.

Natalie turns back around in response to the groan that Ava struggled to keep inside. She takes a breath before opening her mouth for the final try.

“It is someone else.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this months ago, but I'm just now posting things to AO3. My tumblr is proceduralpassion. If you have any requests, please send them in my ask box on my Tumblr. This had a second part but it sucked so it's still sitting in the drafts.


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